HIGH POINT, N.C. -- — A Pregnant woman and her unborn child shot in her bed. A woman shot to death in front of her children.
Just two of the 12 murders that have happened in High Point this year.
While police investigate, a group of community members are taking a stand for peace.
The High Point Peacemakers goal is to get the community on the same page to stop the violence.
On Wednesday night, they hosted a meeting to convince more people to stand with them to keep the community they love from being a war zone.
"All killings are senseless, but these are especially senseless and heinous. We need to bring these to a halt," said J. Lee Scott, a member of the High Point Peacemakers.
A loss of life is always hard to deal with.
But the loss of young lives in the place you've planted roots is even tougher.
"We know your sons and daughters. Our sons and daughters went to shool with yours. We know your mother, your father, your grandmother, grandfather -- those kinds of things. We're not strangers," said Brad Lilley, the President of High Point Peacemakers.
The name says it all.
High Point Peacemakers are pushing for peace in High Point by stopping gun violence.
High Point Police say 15 of the city's 20 murders last year were the result of gun violence.
"It tears my heart out when I have to go to a funeral of a child that I knew that had potential participating in a sports program when I was coaching, and now that road has been cut short," said Scott.
The group of about 25 tries to be proactive. They go door to door, they hold vigils, and peace rallies trying to get this community they know and love to stop killing each other.
"We're trying to reach people before that crime is ever committed. Before the police are involved, before someone loses their life or blood has to be shed," said Lilley.
The group says violence like this continues to happen when people don't value their own lives, because for years it's what they've been taught.
"They start believing that. They begin to act like their lives don't matter, and if they don't think they matter they're not going to consider you to matter much at all," said Lilley.
The High Point Peacemakers say if people don't care about their own lives then they're not going to care about someone else's either, which is why they try so hard to connect with folks *before* tragedies like *this* happen.